The Starting a Law Firm Calculator
Although I question the value of business plans , starting a law firm without even a vague idea of anticipated revenue sources or expected expenses is foolhardy. To help guide the law firm planning (or prediction) process, I’ve developed, with the help of my computer-savvy husband, a basic calculator to list and total your costs and anticipated revenues. Of course, you can do the same thing with your own spreadsheet or programs like Quicken or Freshbooks – but the MyShingle calculator is stocked with all of the items specific to starting or running a practice.
The calculator is still a work in progress – it won’t yet save your data input and if you print it out, the format isn’t great. But it’s something fun to play around with over the upcoming Labor Day Weekend, whether you’ve just started out or you’re still dreaming about doing so. So here’s the link: MyShingle Starting A Law Firm Calculator. Enjoy.
Don’t forget – there’s still time to sign up for the Art, Science & Ethics of the 21st Century Retainer Agreement Webinar on September 6, 2012. For $49, you’ll receive access to the live (and recorded) webinar and transcript along with a 70 page ebook and 100 page appendix of sample agreements and forms for use in flat fee agreement, unbundled arrangements and with independent vendors and contract lawyers. You’ll also receive sample clauses related to conflicts waivers, use of cloud products and email in law practice, sample terms of service for your website and much more! To register, click – here.
Just started looking at it and it looks great, esp. for those of us who are new to the legal field and have to start a solo practice.
The link to the calculator isn’t working for me.
The server is down. Check back later today or tomorrow and it should be better.
Love it! I needed to write up something more formal and this was the perfect tool to make it quick and easy. Thanks Carolyn.
I’m not sure I understand why you question the value of a business plan. A law practice is a business like any other. I spent 8 weeks doing an intensive class focused on developing a business plan and I think it was extremely valuable. Aside from the issues I saw as common sense (cash flow, etc.) it forced me to focus on one thing I think is really important for lawyers starting a practice in any state, like mine (California), in which there is a true glut of lawyers–market differentiation. What am I going to do, besides giving my services away, that will set me apart from all of the thousands of other lawyers competing for the same clients? Without the business plan, I’m not sure I would have addressed that until I’d blown all of my start-up savings and had to eat Top Ramen three times a day.
Hi Carolyn,
I think every thing need to be premeditated before doing anything. As you mentioned above regarding business plan, I believe proper business writing
about any new business can really get noticed by whom it may concern.
Is the link broken or is the server down?